A group of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) from Uganda and Tanzania have written to president of China Xi Jinping calling upon him to halt his planned financial support to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
Sitting at locations in Uganda and Tanzania, the CSOs from both countries who work with the Project Affected Persons (PAPs) in the Albertine area and along the route of the pipeline decried the negative effects of the pipeline on the PAPs and implored him to distance China and its companies from human rights violations in the two East African countries.
“The construction of the EACOP projects threatens the safety and livelihoods of millions and, through its inevitable exacerbation of the climate crisis, poses a major risk to the security and stability of the entire region and the world. Many of the communities we work in have been forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands, receiving unfair compensation that fails to reflect the actual value of what they have lost. In turn, communities have suffered greater levels of food insecurity and have been unable to access basic services like education and healthcare,” Part of the four-page document read.
A PAP invited the media to the area to get first hand experiences of the PAPs so that they get accurate reporting. “They are taking bigger land than they demanded to have. Our crops that we used to grow that sustained our livelihoods can no longer be grown. The compensation is not commensurate with the suffering we are experiencing.”
In November 2023, Ugandan activists protested at the Chinese embassy against the EACOP.
About EACOP
The EACOP Ltd is a private limited company in the United Kingdom (UK). It is a joint venture amongst Total Energies as the major shareholder with 62%, Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) owning 15% each, and CNOOC with 8% shares. The company intends to construct a 1445km pipeline that will transport crude oil from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga in Tanzania.
The EACOP pipeline is a major milestone in the development of petroleum in Uganda. Although Uganda discovered commercially viable oil reserves in 2006, it is close to two decades without major steps taken in the extraction of these reserves due to lack of the infrastructure needed for the financially expensive venture.
President Yoweri Museveni had preferred a refinery for Uganda to export refined oil products instead of the crude oil, but financially able partners seemed to be interested in the pipeline than the refinery. Although the country insists its pursuing both projects, the pipeline has gained steady momentum ahead of the refinery.
Why are CSOs writing to Xi?
Although the China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) owns just 8% shares in EACOP, the major shareholder Total Energies ran into financial challenges when most banks and insurance companies pulled out of the project due to environmental and human rights concerns.
“…Export Credit Agencies of France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany, as well as 29 insurance and reinsurance companies, 27 commercial banks, and the African Development Bank, have publicly ruled out support for EACOP. Several have explicitly attributed their decision to concerns over EACOP’s ongoing and anticipated environmental and social impacts,” the CSO document reads.
Indeed, in September 2022, Museveni warned Total Energies against slowing the project. “We should remember that TotalEnergies convinced me about the pipeline idea; if they choose to listen to the EU parliament, we shall find someone else to work with,” he said, adding, “I want to assure you that the project shall proceed as stipulated in the contract…Either way, we shall have our oil coming out by 2025 as planned so, the people of Uganda should not worry.” It is now mid-2024.
On April 05, 2024, The East African newspaper reported that China had invited Uganda’s minister for Energy to Beijing to discuss the 5billion US dollar pipeline. Discussions had already been going on between Uganda and the Chinese export credit agency SINOSURE for possible funding but multiple deadlines for conclusion of those talks had passed without a resolution, the paper reports.
This is a pointer that the Chinese presidency may wish to fund the EACOP project by political agency.
AIFE speaks
The African Initiative on Food security and Environment (AIFE) accuses China of blatant violations of human rights in Africa. “China’s model of governance and development is not democratic. The politburo that rules China wants to transfer their approach to other polities. They don’t want to listen to the voices of the suffering ordinary person,” AIFE’s Executive Director, Brian Atuheire asserts.
“Wherever they go, they leave an anti-environment footprint. Follow their projects in Zambia, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, even here in our own Lwera wetland. They have dried our swamp for a rice project. We do not trust that their involvement is for the democratic good of Uganda.”
He urges China to prioritise supporting long-term development in Africa, not short-term resource extraction that leaves communities impoverished and their existence threatened.
The CSOs asked President Xi to respond to them by June 10, 2024.
